The state lottery last week put out a call for the holder of a ticket worth $10,000 from a Mega Millions drawing held nearly a year ago, on Dec. 30. They said it was expiring on Sunday and if the money wasn't claimed, it would go to the state's general fund.

But officials said Wednesday they double-checked and found that the ticket had been claimed — way back on Jan. 3. They said that was an extremely busy day at lottery headquarters.

Lottery officials say there is more than $177,000 worth of unclaimed prizes of $10,000 or more on tickets sold in Rhode Island.